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Would tax reform survive a fiscal cliff dive?

For now, the two men who would be at the center of a Tax Code overhaul — Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus (D-Mont.) and House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Dave Camp (R-Mich.) — say failure to avert the fiscal cliff now won’t dampen their appetite for reform next year.

“We will do tax reform next year,” Baucus told POLITICO Thursday as he left a closed door meeting with Camp. “Reform is critical — individual and corporate.”

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Camp, who has already released a draft proposal to rewrite international tax laws, pledged last month to move a comprehensive tax reform bill through his committee in 2013. As he left Thursday’s meeting with Baucus, he acknowledged “there are a lot of circumstances that could make tax reform more difficult next year.”

But he said that even if a deal doesn’t come together in the next few weeks, he would still press for legislation calling on lawmakers to overhaul the code by Aug. 1.

“If you had an agreement that laid out a framework for tax reform, that could be very helpful,” he said.

Tax writers on Capitol Hill have dreamed of a comprehensive overhaul for nearly a decade, and the fiscal clashes that have dominated the past few years brought a wider range of lawmakers — from Nancy Pelosi to Chambliss — into the fold.

But the fiscal cliff presents tough political calculations for tax reform proponents — especially Republicans. In order to secure legislation that mandates a swift tax overhaul next year, the GOP may have to agree to Democratic demands to hike tax rates on top earners.

A growing number of Republicans seem willing to accept higher rates, but that’s a line that GOP leaders have yet to cross.

And it’s not at all clear that President Barack Obama would fight for comprehensive tax reform if there’s no fiscal cliff agreement. After all, the president will have achieved his biggest goal when it comes to individual taxation: raising rates on top earners.

Though Obama proposed a framework for rewriting corporate tax laws earlier this year, he has been much less specific about his approach to the individual side of the system.

This article first appeared on POLITICO Pro at 5:30 p.m. on December 6, 2012.